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Topic: Butter Making Discussion (Read 11554 times)

Having looked around self sufficiency websites, machine based butter making equipment looked very expensive (..00's of dollars) and the manual alternative looked plain hard (shake it for at least 30 mins).

Soo we decided to try an experiment with our ice cream maker (£17).... Its a very basic machine with a base that you freeze before use and a top that just turns a paddle whilst the base provides the freezing temp.

Figured that without freezing, just the paddle would do fine.

Small domestic ruck ensued after husband recounted his memories of family butter making.....

A small amount of money went down on the table and off the machine went.

30 mins later this is what we had....

Normally in the past you would have needed 'wooden hands' to beat the remaining fluid out but you can apparently also smack it around with a normal soup spoon until it achieves appropriate butter status :-)

I just use my kitchen aide to make butter. Do you wash the butter grains as you go? The retention of the butter milk can cause off flavours to develop. You can also make a cultured butter, which is supposed to be fairly popular in European country's.

I also experiemented preserving butter about 6-7 years ago. If I remember correctly the butter was bought to the boil and the foam was scooped off. Boiled for about 5 mins I think, then put into a canning jar, and allowed to cool turning every now and then. It has sat in the pantry ever since, and is still fine, even through our hot summers.

Just thought you might be interested in seeing. The pop top is still depressed, and it still looks fine much to my amazement.

That sounds like Ghee used in Indian cooking please see below, very impressive.

The buttermilk precipitating out as the butter just sat there was an education and it strikes me that there is nothing like doing it for yourself.

You can read a lot about how difficult stuff is to do which led to the difference in opinions between me and hubby...He said the agitation of the ice cream maker wouldnt be enough...the book said food processors agitated too much. To be frank we're both agreed its butter as anyone would know it lol.

>>>>Ghee is made by simmering unsalted butter in a large pot until all water has boiled off and protein has settled to the bottom. The cooked and clarified butter is then spooned off to avoid disturbing the milk solids on the bottom of the pan. Unlike butter, ghee can be stored for extended periods without refrigeration, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation and remains moisture-free.[1] Texture, colour, or taste of ghee depends on the source of the milk from which the was butter made. In India, Ghee made with water buffalo milk tends to be whiter than cow milk ghee.>>>>

Something similar, but not ghee, as all this process does is separate off the impurities, which are mostly in the foam, then as the butter cools you are turning the bottles to reconsolidate the separated butter back into one mass. Hope that makes sense.

Yes I know sometimes I find that people like to "mystify" these processes. I just keep beating (not necessarily at high speed), and washing until all the butter milk is gone, and the water stays clear, lightly salt if I want, form into a pat and put in the fridge. I really is as easy as falling off a log. Great to see that you tried it. I always think that home made butter is much sweeter than store bought stuff.

Regarding making butter and primarily with raw cream, I had an interesting experience that I'd like to figure out what happened....

I've made butter from store bought cream numerous times with a really obvious separation after about 20 minutes in the mixer and it turned out great. When I tried it with raw cream it never separated. It kind of curdled but not very obvious. I had it in the mixer for about 40 minutes when I gave up. Any ideas on what I may need to try next time for a successful butter making experience. Thanks!

I found that when I scooped off the cream, there was also a fair amount of milk that also ended up in the mix. I too didn't think that mine was going to clump, until I started pouring off some of the excess milk. Did that a few times and eventually the cream started to come together. I have found the the raw cream does take a lot longer than store bought cream.HTH

Thanks Tea! I'll give it another go tonight and see what happens. I think I'll try it in the blender rather than the mixer and see if that makes any difference. I think it would be fun to try an old butter churn but that may be a little more ambitious than I'm prepared for. I'll let you know how it goes!

I've always wanted to make butter, but I've got so many things going on and I can't focus my brain on it right now. It's like anything else. Ask people who don't make bread all the time and to them its work. I make so much bread, and to me it's easy, I have all the recipes in my head and can whip up a batch quick...besides the actual times, but in thinking it's quick. So I'm sure it's the same with butter once I do it a few times it will be second nature.

Logged

Life is like a box of chocolates sometimes too much rennet makes you kill people.

Ok well I made the second attempt at butter from the scream skimmed off of this raw milk. Having a little more knowledge going in I had a lot more success going out!

I put the raw cream in the blender this time and in about 5 minutes on med/hi setting it did its thing. It was certainly not a hard break like the store bought cream did where there were big obvious chunks. What it did however is come up looking more like ice cream that is slightly melted. Of course I didn't take photos..which I'll try and do next time.

I strained and washed through butter muslin and then lightly salted and shaped into blocks. Very yummy. Total process time about 10 minutes and roughly 1/2 lb of butter.

Next time I make it I'll take some pictures and document it in a new post.

Chilipepper great to see you tried again. I was making an alpine cheese which called for a low fat milk. After culturing over night, I skimed off the cream the next morning and made butter with that. Here are my pics and same as you, probably 10 mins from start to finish.

I'm new here, but have had this interest a long time. I use my Kitchenaid for butter and knead the whey from it. I also have a 1 Gal. Daisy churn which works well but is so old and pretty that I hate to use it. Try this angle once, make creme fraiche and then churn IT. It makes wonderful, flavorful butter and this is the way I always make butter now..